The Hotta catchment is found in Northwestern part of Ethiopia in North Gondar basin of the Upper Tekeze Basin. This catchment is one of the areas where groundwater is the main sources of water supply for domestic and irrigation purposes. In hydrogeological context, the Hotta River catchment is not a studied catchment. This study aimed to assess the groundwater potential and water quality of Hotta catchment using GIS-based Multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and water quality techniques as methods for assessing and classifying the groundwater potential and water quality of the study area. Eight hydrological and hydrogeological criteria were used as thematic layers, namely, geology, rainfall, geomorphology, drainage density, slope, lineament density, land use, and soil texture. Groundwater-potential-zone evaluations of the study area showed as: very high (11%), high (4%), moderate (16%), low (35%), very low (34%); and groundwater potential zone (GWPZ) maps of the catchment were prepared. The water quality assessment was carried out against WHO and Ethiopian standards for domestic use and irrigation purpose. The major ion concentration belongs to the suitable category for drinking and irrigation purposes based on WHO and MoWR standards. The calculated results of the WQI indicate that the majority of samples are comprised as good water class, which covers 83.33% of the total samples. The other WQI water class type is classified as excellent water type which covers 16.67% out of the total samples in the study area. The irrigation water quality parameters indicated that the majority of the water samples are suitable for irrigation purposes. Based on SAR and MH calculated results the samples are classified as excellent and suitable, respectively. The KR values indicate the majority samples (N=10) are suitable and fewer samples (N=2) are grouped under unsuitable and based on Na% values the majority samples fall under suitable in the study area.